Looking back at…Alice in Wonderland

On 5th Dec 202011th Dec 2020 By elliepitkinIn 10th Anniversary, Alice, Alice 2015

adapted by Richard Stratton

3-18th May 2014, The Selkirk Upstairs
2-16th May 2015, Battersea Library
4-5th June 2015, The British Home

There have been many iterations of Alice in Wonderland, but I bet no others have involved a knitted tea pot. Brilliantly reimagined by Blackshaw stalwart Richard Stratton, it was performed three different times, on three different stages, with three different casts – all racing around, causing havoc and delight in equal measure. Every single show was sold out, every single time. What a rush. You didn’t have to be mad to be involved, but it certainly helped.

this ingeniously directed production by Ellie Pitkin showcases all the theatrical tricks one can imagine…this resourceful and clever production
Public Reviews

an imaginative production…highly entertaining and engaging…a fun afternoon adventure
Everything Theatre

tightly directed and precisely performed – and gloriously silly
Cumbria PR

2014 CAST

EMILY RAE – ALICE
NATALIE WINTER – MARCH HARE/DOOR 2
ANGELA FERNS – THE QUEEN OF HEARTS/SHOPKEEPER
DEAN BRAMMALL – MAD HATTER/DOOR 3 /FLOWERS
LIAM FLEMING – TWEEDLE DUM/SOLDIER 2/DOOR 4
ALEXANDER PANKHURST – TWEEDLE DEE/SOLDIER 1/DOOR 1
NATASHA GREEN – CHESHIRE CAT
CLARE HARLOW – WHITE RABBIT/CATERPILLAR

2014 CREATIVES

ELLIE PITKIN – DIRECTOR & PRODUCER
OLIVER GORDON – ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
ZAHRA MANSOURI – COSTUME & SET DESIGNER
ANDREW CRANE – SOUND DESIGNER & TECH OPERATOR
CHLOE WALTON – ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
MATTHEW CONNELLY – ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
JONELL ROWE – ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
BRUCE ASHER – PUBLICITY DESIGN
VIKKI WESTON – PROJECT MANAGER/PUBLICITY
STANLEY WALTON – PUBLICITY & MARKETING
ROBERT HUGILL – PUBLICITY & MARKETING
BARNEY BARRON – PUBLICITY & MARKETING
NICK TATCHELL – PRODUCTION PHOTOGRAPHY
ZAK THOMAS – PRODUCTION PHOTOGRAPHY
MICHELLE BRISTOW – COSTUME & SET DESIGN ASSISTANT
SHINO MINAGAWA – COSTUME ASSISTANT
KIRSTY YOUNG – COSTUME ASSISTANT
NARA JEONG – COSTUME ASSISTANT

2015 CAST

EMILY RAE / RACHAEL STRATTON – Alice
ALEXANDER PANKHURST – Tweedle Dee/Caterpillar/Soldier 1/Door 1
NATASHA GREEN – Cheshire Cat
ROSIE MARSH – March Hare/Door 2
RICHARD STRATTON – Tweedle Dum/Soldier 2/Door 4
STEVE WICKENDEN – Librarian/Queen of Hearts
ALEX KHANYAGHMA – White Rabbit/Door 3/Flowers

2015 CREATIVES

ELLIE PITKIN – Director and Producer
MARCUS BAZLEY – Assistant Director
TEGAN CUTTS – Stage Manager
ANDREW CRANE – Sound & Lighting Designer & Operator
ZAHRA MANSOURI – Set & Costume Designer
MICHELLE BRISTOW – Associate Set & Costume Designer
VIKKI WESTON – Front of House Manager
SIMON ANNAND – Production Photography
ELLA OKEORE – Costume & Set Assistant
INEZ COONEN – Costume & Set Assistant
MARIA NOONE – Costume & Set Assistant
DODONA WHITE – Costume & Set Assistant
KATHERINE BURKE – Costume & Set Assistant/ASM

More about Alice 2014

More about Alice 2015

Looking back at 2015

On 20th Dec 2015 By elliepitkinIn Fun, NewsLeave a comment

We’ve had a corker of a year, and as we settle down in front of the fire with a mulled wine in hand and snazzy christmas jumper firmly on, we thought we’d take you through the highlights…

The Blackshaw Arts Hour on Wandsworth Radio (fortnightly from Jan 2015)

Subscribe on iTunes.

Available to download or stream here.

10-29th November 2015 – Staying Alive by Kat Roberts, at the Pleasance Islington

Published by Nick Hern Books. Buy your copy here.
“explosive emotion…a strong cast…lively and full of wit…” West End Wilma

“Proof that given enough time, talent and perseverance, theatre that really says something about the human condition can be made.”
Female Arts

“highly original, nuanced and enlightening…deeply observed social comedy…compelling from start to finish”
Remote Goat

“wonderfully human…a really powerful exploration of grief – honest and tender…”
London Theatre 1

Read more here.

25th November 2015 – Blackshaw’s Scare Slam, at the Horse & Stables, Lambeth

Read more here.

4-5th July 2015 – Alice in Wonderland by Richard Stratton, at the British Home as part of the Streatham Festival

Read more here.

Sunday 7th June 2015 – Blackshaw’s 5th Birthday Party!

Read more here.

2-16th May 2015 – Alice in Wonderland by Richard Stratton, at the Battersea Library
A sell-out run, as part of the Wandsworth Arts Fringe.
“…creative, imaginative and seemingly effortless style…The whole performance buzzed with energy, fun and joy.”
London Theatre 1

“The fun-filled show brims with chaos, madness and high jinks…the wild but classic tale of Alice in her fantastically retold Wonderland.” – A Younger Theatre

Read more here.

25th March, 17th May, 29th July, 30th September 2015 – New Writing Nights at the Horse & Stables, Lambeth

Read more here.

9-14th March 2015 – Character by Florence Vincent, at the Tristan Bates Theatre
“a delightful theatre production on in Covent Garden. Funny, nostalgic, well acted 2 hander” – London Culture Blog

“a witty play…reminiscent of Ab Fab’s Edina and Saffy” – In & Around Covent Garden magazine SONY DSC

Read more here.

15th Jan 2015 – Staying Alive by Kat Roberts, at the Pleasance Islington
One night only industry showcase – Winner of Blackshaw’s Showcase Award 2014.

Read more here.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

See you in 2016.

Ellie & the Team at Blackshaw

Gallery – ‘Alice in Wonderland’ at The British Home

On 8th Jul 20155th Dec 2020 By elliepitkinIn Alice 2015, TheatreLeave a comment

Alice’s Day

On 3rd Jul 2015 By elliepitkinIn Alice 2015, TheatreLeave a comment

Saturday 4th July is Alice’s Day! We’re very excited that this coincides so nicely with The Streatham Festival, so that we can bring a bit of the Alice Day fun to South London.

What’s that you ask? What is Alice’s Day?

Alice’s Day is a an annual celebration of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, held in Oxford, where Lewis Carroll lived and worked for much of his life. Coordinated by The Story Museum, there’s an element suitable for all Alice fans, including carnivals, workshops, museum exhibitions, and lectures. This year is particularly special because it’s the 150th Anniversary of the publication of Alice, plus the connection to 4th July in particular. As so eloquently put by The Story Museum:

“One golden afternoon on 4 July 1862, Charles Dodgson, an Oxford don, took the 10-year-old Alice Liddell and her sisters on a boating picnic up the River Thames from Folly Bridge in Oxford. To amuse the children he told them a story about a little girl, sitting bored by a riverbank, who finds herself tumbling down a rabbit hole into a topsy-turvy world called Wonderland.

The story so delighted Alice that she begged him to write it down – the result was the 1864 handwritten manuscript Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, published in 1865 as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland under the pen name Lewis Carroll, with illustrations by Sir John Tenniel. A sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, was published in 1871.”

So do come and join us for Alice in Wonderland at the British Home and sample some of the magic and mayhem of this classic book. Who knows where your imagination might take you?!

There’s even more fun to be had on Sunday 5th July when there’ll be a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party fete in the grounds of the British Home, for a double dose of Alice fun!

Get your tickets for Alice in Wonderland here.

Alice at the British Home – Rehearsal Photos

On 29th Jun 20155th Dec 2020 By elliepitkinIn Alice 2015Leave a comment

The Blackshaw Arts Hour – Episode 18

On 21st Jun 2015 By blackshawtheatreIn Arts HourLeave a comment

This week on the Blackshaw Arts Hour, Matt reviews London Road and we are joined in the studio by Alexander Pankhurst and Rosie Marsh, two of the actors involved in Blackshaw’s upcoming production of Alice in Wonderland.

We heard more interviews form the rest of the cast involved in the latest production of Alice in wonderland and also heard from writer Richard Stratton about why he choose to adapt Alice and the writing process.

Arts thing of the week had Vikki talking to us about the lack of jobs in the arts and we discussed in the studio what the difficulties surrounding this are.

Blackshaw’s latest run of Alice in Wonderland will be at the Streatham Home as a part of the Streatham Festival on the 4th and 5th of July. Tickets can be found here

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Quick Questions in Wonderland with Rachael Stratton

On 10th Jun 2015 By elliepitkinIn Alice 2015Leave a comment

We grabbed Rachael Stratton, who’s playing ‘Alice’ in our Streatham Festival run of ‘Alice in Wonderland’, for a quick chat.

What’s your favourite scene or character in Alice in Wonderland?
I love the court scene. The Queen of Hearts is truly fabulous as she marches around accusing anyone and everyone of stealing her tarts. I don’t think I’ve ever been part of something so manic!

What was the last project you worked on?
I played ‘Gingy’ and ‘Pinocchio’ in an Italian Tour of Shrek the Musical earlier this year. The show was a lot of fun and of course getting to see different parts of Italy at the same time was a bonus!

What’s the last book you read?
I’ve never been a big reader but I really enjoyed working my way through the works of Danny Wallace. Particularly, Awkward situations for men which is a selection of short stories in which Danny finds himself in various situations that are awkward for men…He really nailed the book title!

Besides Alice, what’s your favourite past role (or favourite past project you’ve worked on) and why?
My favourite role has to be ‘Winnie’ in Seeds of Love. It’s a true WWII story about a maid and a gardener who sent secret letters to each other after they were forbidden from speaking in person.

Their original love letters were discovered about 6 years ago in an old condensed milk tin in a garden shed. The play was written after managing to find Winnie and Eric, who were still happily married and in their 90s, and reuniting them with their letters almost 70 years on. Replaying their life and memories in the same stately home where the secret lovers used to work back in the 1940s was something truly special.

What’s the best play/show/concert you’ve ever been to?
I am theatre mad so this is a really tricky question. I love lots of different shows for lots of different reasons *switches to serious thinking face*. War Horse is a beautifully told story and it’s so hard to get your head around the fact that the horses on stage aren’t real horses! Another show that stood out for me is The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Donmar. It’s full of witty songs and colourful characters. It’s something I’d love to be in. Also Matthew Bourne’s Edward Scissorhands is truly magical. I could easily continue but I’m restricted to a word count!

Not a lot of people know that…
A friend of mine once accidently knocked me out with a golf club.
Top Tip: Don’t stand too close to people who are playing golf.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
If I hear a song that has specific dance moves to it like YMCA, Saturday Night, The Macarena, 5,6,7,8 (the list goes on!) I simply HAVE to do the full choreography. To be fair, it’s quite good exercise!

What really grinds your gears?
All girls know this to be true…It doesn’t matter how many hair grips we buy, they will all instantly disappear! Seriously, where do they go!? It’s like the shops employ people to walk around with giant magnets to get them all back just so they can sell them to us again at a ridiculous price 3 days later. Grrrrrr.

You can see Rachael as ‘Alice’ in Alice in Wonderland at the British Home, 4-5th July, 1.30pm & 3pm (both days). £6 adult/£3 child.

Tickets available now!

NEWS: Alice tickets now on sale!

On 4th Jun 2015 By elliepitkinIn Alice 2015, NewsLeave a comment

Tickets have gone on sale for Alice in Wonderland at the Streatham Festival – book early to avoid disappointment (we’ve sold a bunch already!).

Clicky clicky.

NEWS: Alice in Wonderland transfers to Streatham Festival!

On 22nd May 2015 By elliepitkinIn Alice 2015, News, TheatreLeave a comment

*ANNOUNCEMENT KLAXON*

We are almost as thrilled as the Mad Hatter…

Following the success of our fabulous run of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ at the Battersea Library for Wandsworth Fringe, we are transferring the show to The Streatham Festival 4-5th July at a BEAUTIFUL venue, ‘The British Home‘ in Streatham.

We’ve got 2 shows a day (1.30pm & 3pm), and tickets will go on sale at www.blackshawonline.com very soon…